Saturday, October 31, 2009

One of the great things about being an SU Demonstrator is that you get to meet a lot of lovely people who share a common interest. I was able to attend the Hobart Field Training Event this month with Tania and Leonie.

It was a fun night where I gathered some wonderful ideas, techniques and got a sneak peek at some of the new Summer Mini products (I now have a copy and it is 'gob smackingly gorgeous'). We're not allowed to post pictures on our blogs until the pre-order release date (3rd November). I can't wait to show you the cute samples that we made in Hobart, and when I get up from typing this, hopefully I will have time to go and create some more! Thankfully it's a long weekend here in Northern Tasmania.

Here's the Swaps that I received from a bunch of very talented people.

My top 5 Picks

They were all very clever, but I narrowed it down to my favourite 5. Clockwise from top left -
Tania Gould, Lynda Moss, Julie Leeper, Claire Harrison and Sharon Walsh (Credereshaz.blogspot.com).

Tania, now has her own blog (Time for Me; Time for You) and she has just posted her very first card. Why don't you drop by and check it out!

Tomorrow, I'm catching up with some friends from Sydney and a couple of my closest friends, from down the North West Coast. I'll be back for an early November post, with some cute Summer Mini samples for you to 'clap your eyes on'. Until then, enjoy your weekend ...

Bronwyn

PS: My addiction is stamping but it is also therapy for my addINKtion.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Here's a fun little competition that is open to allAustralian residents. All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post, to tell me which Polished Stone card you like the best and why. This is open to SU Demonstrators as well.

The closing date for the competition will be Tuesday 10th November, 2009.

A winner will be chosen at random to win a $20 SU gift voucher to be redeemed only through me, Bronwyn Eastley, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Last Saturday night, a group of lovely ladies came together to enjoy an evening of stamping, good food and to help raise money for a great cause.

Sanji talked about how he was raising money, through TEAR, to help provide classroom supplies and a teacher's wage for a needy school in a Third World Country. He also cooked everything on the menu that night (except the Corn Chips!). We were treated to some yummy slices and muffins. My mouth is still watering at the thought of all that baking!

All I had to do was provide a Make 'n' Take for the evening!!

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Sanji, through sales alone, raised a total of $156!!!!!! That's not including the $5 entry fee from everyone and the money that he had saved prior to the night. I think he has reached his goal of $550. Well done, Sanji, on a wonderful effort and for caring about the needs of other children less fortunate.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Here's a little sneak peek at the cards I've been making for my 'Workshop Wow' Presentation in Hobart tonight. Can you tell that blue is my favourite colour?

I've got a few hours to go before I walk out the door, pick up two good friends, and head off down the Midland's Highway! Isn't it great to have a 'boss' that lets you swap your days off? I still have to glue the Project Recipes on the back of all my Swaps and Demo Cards, gather the equipment that we need for the Make 'n' Take and work out what I'll put on my cue cards. I will be able to breathe air again soon!

It has been a rewarding experience just preparing for it all. I hope my 5 minutes of 'fame' will be a 'polished performance' - ha ha!

I will feature all the cards in detail, in another post, along with a fantastic competition for people to enter!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I think I've finally worked out a couple of nights that I can hold my Christmas Workshops. There just seems to be SO much on in November for us! If you are interested, you will need to book in for whichever night suits you by sending me an email at - eastleys@aapt.net.au to secure your place, as I only have room for up to 8 people per night.

The two nights available (unless anything major crops up onto the calendar) are as follows:

Friday 13th November - 7.30pmThursday 19th November - 7.30pm

Both evenings will be held at my place. A confirmation email will be sent to you with my address details.

We will be making five Christmas cards for the total cost of $15. This is not a Stamp-a Stack as each card will feature a different stamp set/technique etc.

I'm also tempted to purchase 'Snow Swirled' ... we'll see. Some of my sets haven't seen ink yet so that might be a bit naughty!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Bronwyn :0)

PS: I was able to get 'Snow Swirled' as a Hostess Gift and it arrived yesterday (29/10/09). I'm looking forward to creating the designs for my Christmas workshops TODAY. Stay tuned for a peek at them in a later post.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Here's the 'Polished Stone' version of my Japanese Doll Card. I kept the general layout and added some Brushed Gold card stock to the kimono and to the punched Eyelet Border. The PS border and kimono have been done with So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Gold re-inkers. The little pedi-cab is all the way from Cambodia, courtesy of my hubby, who went there last year on a Mission Trip with the church we attend.

Spot the Difference

Here's the four different styles of dolls that I made for my Hobart Swaps. They were a lot of fun to make. I'll be showing a large group of ladies, at the TEAR Fundraiser tonight, how they can make their own!

My Swaps

Ok! So the 'twenty something' one was not as much fun to make as the first! Phew! I finally finished. Now I just have to put the Project Recipe on the back. If I get time, I'm anxious to make some more swaps using the Winter Post stamp set. I'll see how things go. The motivation is there but there's only 24 hours in a day!

My Favourite

This little cutie has the same Project Recipe as the earlier post. There's just a couple of things to add - I used Circle Circus Stamps in the Tangerine Tango border to match the Haiku DSP and the hair is made with the 1 1/4" circle punch.

That's the end of the Japanese Doll Card Parade for now. I hope you enjoyed browsing and have been inspired to do some 'creating' of your own! Click here for the Japanese Doll instructions on Kirsteen's Blog.

A correction needs to go on the Project Recipe for these - I incorrectly put that I used a large oval punch. It should have said WIDE OVAL PUNCH on the Swaps. Apologies to anyone that was confused by the error!

Ok! So this little guy has nothing to do with card making etc. but I thought he felt a bit neglected. He's been displaying 'his' ribbon on my bear shelf for a week now and all these cards have got ALL the attention. I thought it would be fun to show you my entry in the Bear and Doll section of the Launceston Show. I have not completed a bear since joining SU as I'm having too much fun with papercraft at the moment. I guess I'll get to my UFO's (unfinished objects) at some stage. Next year, I might dust off the shelf and put another couple of entries in just for fun!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Laura and I had a quick browse around the Launceston Show, before collecting the craft entries at the Cottage Industries' Pavilion. The ONLY reason I went was to see the crafts on display. The whole other experience reminded me why I hadn't been for about 8 years and why I'm not likely to hurry back! I discovered that the 'Alpine Express' gives me a headache and everything is so over-priced!

Well, despite all this, it was great to see the children's work. I have lots of certificates, ribbons, money and prizes to give out at the next Assembly. Well done to everybody and to Mrs. Pannowitz, who spent a lot of time with the Seniors cooking up a storm!

I got a real surprise to see I had won overall winner in the Papercraft Section and was awarded a book voucher from Petrachs (my daughter is very envious). I wonder if they have some books on papercraft?

Isn't she adorable? I was browsing Splitcoast Stampers on the Web the other night and came across a very cute card featuring a little Japanese Doll. She's made from the wide oval, 3/4 " and one inch circle punches, along with some cute Designer Series Paper. I just had to try it out for myself using the Haiku DSP.

It was such fun to make, that I decided that this would be one of my Swaps for Hobart Field Training. I don't think I'll get tired of making them, as each one will end up looking a bit different. They'll have different hairstyles and kimonos and I might substitute the 'Eastern Blooms' Stamp Set for 'Circle Circus' to see how that looks.

I also made one that has a 'polished stone' kimono etc. I'm keeping that one for a future post, along with other sample cards that I'll make using the same technique, for my demo in Hobart.

I had better get off the computer and get ready to go the Launceston Show. Apparently I have some prize money to collect!! Mmmm.. no guesses as to what I'll put that towards.. a new stamp set, perhaps? My tri-shutter card won 1st prize and Little Uggles the Bear, came 2nd. Wooo.. hooo! The last time I entered a competition, I was in grade 2 and I got Equal First Prize for my short story. I can remember that I wouldn't let the author scribble her name in my nice new book that I received and my sister being annoyed with me. That's one time I should have listened to her advice.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Here's my other card making entry for the Launceston Show. I had to display three cards that showed three different techniques and they had to be mounted onto one display board. I decided to use the same stamp set, Upsy Daisy, and colour scheme for all the examples. This helped to highlight the different techniques used. I haven't provided all the details for each card but if you're curious about any accessories etc please contact me with any questions.

Technique No. 1 - Using the Brayer and Masking

Technique No. 2 - Polished Stone

Technique No. 3 - Emboss Resist

The main colours used were Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Whisper White. You will be seeing a few more examples using the Polished Stone Technique in later posts, as this is what I've decided to demo for the Workshop Wow presentation at the Hobart Field Training Night. I had fun with Amanda at Stamp'n'Giggle the other night, experimenting with different colour combinations and more re-inkers are on the way with my next order! It's a bit addictive and lots of fun!

Have a super duper show day holiday tomorrow, if you live in Launny.. until next time,LOL Bronwyn

Sanji (in grade 3 at Community Christian Academy), along with his mum, is holding a special Stampin' Up! evening to raise funds for a Community School. He has raised $290 so far and needs a total of $550. This money will help provide teacher training, salary and running costs of a school for a year.

This is your invitation to attend the evening (if you live in, or around the Launceston area). The cost is $5 which will go towards the Community School. I will also donate my commission from any Stampin' Up! sales on the night. Supper is also included. Sanji is going to cook triple choc brownies and give away some prizes. He will give a short presentation to explain his project on the night. I will, of course, provide a fun Make 'n' Take activity too!

If you can't make it on the night, but have been wanting to put in a Stampin' Up! order, you can e-mail it to me before the 17th October. Please indicate that it is for Sanji's fundraiser, so the commission from any outside orders can be donated to this awesome cause!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Well, here it is at last! This is the card I've been working on since last Sunday. It's one of my entries for the Launceston Show. Some of my students prompted me to enter some craft work seeing I was encouraging them to do so. I regret the time it took (housework suffered and hubby feels a little neglected) but I'm really pleased with the result.

It's the first tri-shutter card I have made. Thought I might prepare this technique for one of my Christmas Stamping Fun Nights. I'll let you know soon when I'll be able to host those. Quite a few people have said they'd like to come along to the next one, so keep watching this blog for the details.

This is what the card looks like when it's closed. You can also see a glimpse of the beautiful Tamar Valley in the background. Please note the clear, sunny sky. It makes a change from the 'Days of Noah' that we have experienced for weeks on end. I guess the drought is officially over?

Friday, October 2, 2009

Here's a pic of Jenti's finished card for the Launceston Show. It's definitely 'Priceless'. The colours, Regal Rose and Rose Red go so well together. I love the layout of this card. Hasn't she done a fantastic job?

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Here's the gorgeous card that Bianca made for the Junior Craft Section at the Launceston Show. It's a 'Shaker Card' filled with cake sprinkles, behind the clear acetate window. She used the 'Big Bold Birthday' Set and glued 'Crystal Iris' chunky sprinkles to the 'frosting'. It makes my mouth water just looking at it!

Yay! It's finally finished after 2 days! It's a bit hard to tell from the picture, but Bianca put the lower part of the cupcake through the crimper so it looks like a real patty pan.

Placing the 'window' down onto the foam mounting tape was a bit tricky.

Sticky strip will hold all the cardstock, acetate and Designer Series Paper together!

I love my job, especially when I am able to do my favourite hobby with the children. We marbled paper for Mother's Day cards this year and I've recently featured what we did for Father's Day. I'm looking forward to making some Christmas 'goodies' with the students. It's great being involved with Stampin' Up! as I'm never short of having craft ideas on hand, as well as all the great resources that the Company offers.

Hopefully, in the next day or two, I'll be able to share my entries for the Show. I'm a bit distracted tonight though, because I came home to a recorded message on my answering machine. It was Stampin' Up! wanting to know if I'd do a 'Workshop Wow' Presentation at the Hobart Field Training Night! Scary thought, but I'm feeling stoked about the opportunity! I guess my feet will come back to Earth sometime soon.